


You Bet

by Celyan



Series: Works for 007 Fest 2020 [25]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, M/M, betting pools
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:20:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25578715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celyan/pseuds/Celyan
Summary: For once, the betting pool wasn’t about James or Q or their relationship.
Relationships: Background James Bond/Q, Bill Tanner/Alec Trevelyan
Series: Works for 007 Fest 2020 [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813132
Comments: 7
Kudos: 54





	You Bet

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Trope prompt table’s prompt ‘Betting pool’. With this, I discovered another lovely ship and I might be a tiny bit in love with it now. ❤️😆
> 
> Thanks to SandyWormbook for the beta.

For once, the betting pool wasn’t about James or Q or their relationship.

Alec had stumbled upon it completely by accident, when he’d hacked into R’s work laptop in search of something else entirely — namely, information about a particular gadget he’d heard James mention the last time they’d been at the pub celebrating yet another successful mission. James had waxed poetic about it and how Q had allowed him to test it out at the labs, so of course Alec got curious. 

Perhaps he also lamented the fact that he hadn’t thought to nab himself a Q Brancher when he’d had the chance, if those were the perks, but that was neither here nor there now that he was taken and happily so. 

Of course, not everybody knew about his and Bill’s relationship; M knew and by extension Eve did too, and he’d naturally told James who’d shared it with Q, but that was it. And it wasn’t like they were keeping it a secret, either, it was just that Bill wanted to keep private matters private and Alec respected that. 

Alec had managed to lure his more reticent boyfriend into a few empty rooms in Six for a bit of snogging here and there, though, so he considered it a fair deal.

Still, the betting pool made no mention of Bill. None at all. 

It had everything to do with him, however. It seemed that someone had heard him say that he was in a relationship, but not with whom, and the whole thing was centered around the identity of his mysterious partner. Bond and Q taking him along into their relationship was currently the option in the lead, but Eve, several other field agents, some people from Accounting and Medical, and even M had their names connected to his.

Alec was both extremely amused over the assumption that Bond and Q would want anyone else to join their relationship, and a tiny bit hurt over no one thinking that Bill might find him attractive enough to date. 

Bill himself would probably find it all perfectly hilarious, though. Alec was going to tell him during their date in the evening, in any case. Perhaps they’d find some more amusement in it together.

*

Alec knocked on Bill’s door at precisely 7 pm. Bill let him in almost immediately, which told him that his lover had been expecting him. 

“Miss me?” He grinned and, without so much as removing his jacket, pulled the man into his arms and kissed him on the lips.

“Apparently not as much as you did,” Bill said dryly when they drew away for Alec to finally lose the jacket, though there was enough of a sparkle in his eyes to tell Alec that he hardly meant it.

Alec shrugged and picked up the bottle of white wine he’d brought along then offered it to Bill. “I was bored,” he said by way of an explanation.

Bill snorted. “I’m sure. Weren’t you sparring with Bond for most of the afternoon?”

“Man can win, or lose although that’s just another way of looking at the same thing, only so many times in a row,” Alec said loftily. 

“And you didn’t think to finish up your paperwork with all that time you had to kill?” 

Alec, who was following Bill to the dining room and was therefore behind him, felt it safe to roll his eyes. “Of course not.” 

Bill’s, “Don’t think I didn’t see that,” quickly disabused him of that particular notion, however. 

People never really gave Bill enough credit. They’d see him and think that he was just another polite, soft-spoken bureaucrat, but Alec knew the truth. He knew that Bill had a core of pure steel, and that he was witty and intelligent and that he genuinely cared about other people. Knowing that only made him appreciate the man more. 

Besides, not just about anyone could hold their own with a double-oh agent, and Bill was among those few that could.

They reached the dining room, a light and spacious room with a large table perfect for both dinner parties and smaller, more intimate get-togethers, and Alec could see that Bill had everything ready and waiting for them. The only thing that was missing was the bottle of wine, which Bill deposited into a bucket of ice, and they themselves. 

Bill always insisted that whenever he cooked for them, they’d dine together properly in the dining room, complete with wine and dessert and all the works. Alec found it sweet, so he never said no when his boyfriend suggested that he come around for dinner. 

Today’s menu was on the simpler side, a baguette with an olive tapenade followed by a fettuccine Alfredo as the main course and chocolate mousse for dessert, as Bill had had a long day at the office and hadn’t had too much time to prepare. To Alec, who really didn’t like cooking at all, it all sounded perfectly heavenly. 

“It smells so good,” he said as he took his seat at the table. “I can’t wait to eat it… and you, afterwards.” He followed the words with an exaggerated leer and a wink as well, and was silenced by a glare that had more fondness in it than any other emotion. 

“Just be quiet and eat your food, you menace,” Bill said as he opened the wine bottle and poured them a glass, though he didn’t sound like he was all too serious with his words.

Alec chuckled but did what he was told, and enjoyed each bite immensely.

“Thank you, it was delicious,” he said once they’d both finished eating and he was helping Bill clear out the table. “I honestly have no idea how you do it each and every time.”

Bill shrugged, looking quietly pleased. “I love cooking.” He paused, smiled, and pressed a tiny, gentle kiss on Alec’s cheek. “And I especially love cooking for you.”

After, they retired to the living room to relax and have some more wine. Alec wrapped his arm around Bill’s shoulder and took a sip of wine while his boyfriend made himself comfortable next to him.

“I found something interesting today when I hacked R’s laptop,” he said after a few moments of silence.

“What did I tell you about hacking R’s laptop?” Bill asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Not to do it,” Alec replied dutifully. “But Q’s is too well protected and I couldn’t be sure which minion had the information I needed.” 

Bill snorted. “Not to mention that Bond would kick your arse if you tried.” 

“Hey now,” Alec protested. “I’ll have you know that I won all our sparring matches today.” 

“I was under the impression that you lost them,” Bill said innocently. “Since winning and losing are the same thing and all.” 

Alec poked him on the side with his elbow. But lightly, as he didn’t want to hurt him, simply make a point. “Either way,” he said, eager to share his news. “I found a betting pool centered around yours truly.” 

“Oh?” Bill said, sounding only mildly curious. “Do tell?”

So Alec did. He explained what it was all about, and also went through the people that were being guessed as his secret lover. 

“None of them mentioned you,” he added, still a little affronted for his boyfriend. 

Bill shrugged. ”Honestly, I’m not that surprised. When people were betting for Q’s secret lover, nobody suggested me then either.” 

“People are idiots,” Alec said. 

“Let’s not go quite that far, perhaps,” Bill said, and then a slow smile spread over his face. “We could have some fun with it though. Make an anonymous bet and win a lot of money. And in addition, I could even go and bet on someone really unrealistic. Like Eve. Or M.” 

Alec felt himself start to grin. “I like the sound of that.” It was things like these that made him love his boyfriend more.

“We’ll donate the money to charity afterwards, of course,” Bill continued, matter-of-fact. 

And that, too.

“That’s settled then,” Alec said, nodding. They deserved to lose their money for ignoring his Bill like that, and the money would go for good cause. 

Alec did so love killing two birds with one stone. 


End file.
